


Nocturnes

by ailaikclarke



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Happy Ending, SuperCorp, Supercorp child, Supercorp endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-03-05 15:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18831061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailaikclarke/pseuds/ailaikclarke
Summary: “Your doctor said that it’s up to you now.” She continued. “They took you off sedation, so… You need to wake up and be mad at me for poor diets and movies late at night. I… I don’t think I can do this without you, Lena. Or, rather, I probably could… But I really don’t want to.”ORWhen Lena goes into a coma, Kara needs to find a way to keep living her life while taking care of their daughter. Is her wife going to wake up or is this her new normal?





	1. No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor

Making sure that her daughter couldn’t see her, Kara sat down. She watched as he sat on the piano stool and took a deep breath.   
As soon as his fingers hit the first keys, Kara recognized what he was playing. Chopin’s Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor. Lena’s favourite piano piece.   
A single tear rolled down Kara’s cheek and, suddenly, the music stopped. Kara’s breath stopped in her throat as her left hand quickly covered her mouth.

“I heard that.” 

Kara smiled as she got up. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You’re not disturbing me.” Maisie whispered, never turning away from the piano. “You can sit here.”

Kara hesitated for a second before walking to where her daughter was pointing. “Chopin?”

Maisie nodded. “Yes, her favourite piece.”

After a moment of silence, Maisie started playing again. This time, she didn’t stop when Kara started crying. Her fingers moved swiftly on the keys and Kara couldn’t help but remember all the times she had watched Lena playing that same piece.   
Once Maisie was done playing, she turned around to face her mother. For the first time, Kara realized that she was crying too. 

“She’s going to be fine, Maisie. You don’t need to worry.”

Her daughter stared at her for a moment, her head cocked to one side. “Why are you crying, then?”

“Sometimes you’re 100% like her.” She commented. “Logical, level-headed and way too focused.”

Maisie raised an eyebrow at her. “You haven’t replied to my question.”

“I am crying because I am worried all the time.” Kara clarified. “I know that she’ll be fine, but I still worry.”

“Do you worry because she’s human?” Maisie asked. Questions like that one, together with her soft green eyes were what reminded Kara that she was technically talking to a child and not to a shorter version of Lena.

“I do, yes.” Kara replied. 

“Humans are very fragile.” Maisie commented. “I’m glad you made me half and half.”

A sob escaped Kara’s mouth. “Me too, baby, me too.”

“Can we go visit mummy once we finish crying?”

Kara was quick to engulf Maisie in what she usually referred to as “mumma bear hugs”. Her daughter started laughing as she held her close to her chest. “Yes, let’s go.”

Together, they walked to the garage and hopped on Kara’s jeep. She still didn’t enjoy driving, but her daughter couldn’t fly and she didn’t want to fly around the city with her on her shoulders. The drive to the clinic was silent, with Maisie focused on a new book and Kara with her eyes on the road. After parking, they walked to the clinic’s entrance and then climbed the stairs to the third floor, where Lena’s room was. Kara stopped to talk to a nurse before going in, but Maisie rushed inside the room. After a moment, Kara joined her.

“And yes, mumma did cry when I played the piano, but it was to be expected.” Maisie was saying. She was sitting by Lena’s bed, holding her hand and talking as if her mother could actually reply to what she was saying. “You need to wake up, because she can’t cook and refuses to hire someone to cook for us. I am not going to survive long if she keeps feeding me pizza and potstickers.” 

Kara sat down next to her. “She has to be the only child in the whole world who doesn’t like pizza and potstickers.”

For a second, just a second, Kara waited for Lena to smile at her, to sigh, and to say something.

When she realized that her wife couldn’t react to what she was saying, Kara shook her head. “Alex comes over from time to time and cooks for the little one.”

Maisie scoffed. “She should come over more often. Aunt Alex is the only thing keeping me alive right now.”

“I’ll ask her to come over tonight, so that you can stop being a teenager for a second.”

“I am nine, not a teenager.” Maisie replied. “I’ll go get some juice.”

Kara nodded as she watched her daughter getting up and walking out of the room. She quickly took her place by Lena’s bed and grabbed her hand to hold.

“She’s right, you do need to wake up soon.” She whispered. “I promised her and you know I don’t break promises. Plus, you wouldn’t want her to switch to a diet like mine… I…”

She stopped for a moment and wiped the tears off her face. 

“Your doctor said that it’s up to you now.” She continued. “They took you off sedation, so… You need to wake up and be mad at me for poor diets and movies late at night. I… I don’t think I can do this without you, Lena. Or, rather, I probably could… But I really don’t want to.” 

Then Kara went silent.  
She waited.  
She hoped.  
Minutes felt like years as she watched her wife’s face hoping that she would open her eyes. She stared at her motionless body expecting it to move. She squeezed her hand waiting to get a squeeze back.

“I can wait, Lena. I can wait for you,” She whispered. “I age slowly, you know you’ll find me here when you wake up.”

She went silent again. Waiting for an answer, or even a nod. She longed to see Lena open her eyes and stare at her, even for just a moment.

“It’s not just the two of us anymore, though. Maisie can’t wait,” Kara continued. “She ages like humans do. I don’t want you to miss out on her childhood as much as I don’t want her to grow up without a mother. She can’t wait, so, hurry up. Wake up, my love, please.”


	2. No. 10 in A-Flat Major

_The morning of the accident…_

“What do you mean I don’t look forty? I most certainly do.”

  
Lena sighed. “You look about the same way you did when we met.”

  
“I do not.” Kara replied, frowning.

  
“Kara, it’s okay.” Lena smiled at her. “I look older than you, even though I’m technically twenty-seven years younger.”

  
Kara took a sip of her coffee as she got up from her chair. “I am three years older than you, not twenty-seven. Stop being dramatic.”

  
“You were stuck in the Phantom Zone for twenty-four years.” Lena replied. “You were thirteen when you landed, while I was only ten. Three plus twenty-four equals twenty-seven, my dear.”

  
Kara frowned again. “Let’s go back to you looking older than I do.”

  
“Mum has that pale complexion that makes her look young, like a vampire.” Maisie yelled out from the living room. “That’s her saving grace.”

  
“Is that a compliment?” Lena whispered.

  
“It is.” Maisie yelled back.

  
Lena scoffed. “I hate super hearing.”

  
“It was your idea to have her share both your DNA and mine.” Kara said, a huge grin on her face.

  
Lena grabbed her mug and headed to the door. “It might have been the biggest mistake I have ever made.”

  
“Bye baby.” Kara smiled at her. “I know you love us.”

  
Before Lena could reply, Maisie was quickly by her side. “You don’t hate super speed, though, do you?”

  
“I don’t hate it if you used it to come and give me a kiss goodbye.”

  
Maisie looked at her for a second before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to her height. She placed a kiss on her mother’s cheek before running back to where she was sitting.

  
“Meet me at L-Corp for lunch?”

  
Kara nodded. In the blink of an eye, she was next to her wife, kissing her goodbye.   
“I like super speed.” Lena whispered before opening the door to the garage and walking to her car.

 


	3. No. 19 in E Minor

“Mama?”

Kara looked up. “Yes?”

“Are all the rumours true?”

“What rumours?”

Maisie was silent for a second. “The ones about mum’s family.”

Kara nodded. “They are.”

“But she’s not like them, is she?” Maisie asked.

“You’ve known her your whole life. Is she like them?”

Maisie shook her head. “No. She’s not.”

Kara smiled. “Why are you asking me this right now?”

“I wanted to ask her.” Maisie explained. “But I can’t.”

Kara closed her book. “Your mother comes from a very complicated family. When you were still a baby, we would often talk about how to approach the subject with you, because you carry her last name as well, and people talk. It wasn’t something we could protect you from.”

“How long did it take you to realise that she’s different?”

Kara smiled, thinking about her first meeting with Lena. “About three minutes.”

“They said that her brother is really evil.”

“I could lie and tell you that Lex is a very nice man, but you’re too smart for that. Plus, we decided a long time ago to be honest with you.” Kara replied. “Your mother’s brother is indeed evil, which is why he’s in prison.”

Maisie seemed to think about what her mother had told her and Kara couldn’t help but notice how much she resembled Lena when she was thinking. “I couldn’t believe that people were saying that mum is evil. I mean, she’s mum.”

“People are going to tell you a lot of mean things, you’ll see that it gets worse as you get older.” Kara explained. “You simply have to remind yourself that you’re not what they say you are. You know who you are, you know your value. And the same goes for your mother.”

Maisie nodded. “I know who I am.”

“That’s my girl.” Kara smiled. “Wanna play some Chopin for me?”

The little girl got up and Kara followed her to the piano. She sat on the steps, watching carefully as Maisie sat on the piano stool. She started playing and Kara closed her eyes. She recognised the song as one Lena used to play to baby Maisie when she kept crying. She remembered the first time she had gotten back from a DEO job, Maisie was probably around three or four weeks. She’d been crying all day long and Lena had tried everything she could to make her stop. Nothing seemed to work, until she sat on the piano and played it for Maisie.

The little girl calmed down immediately, seemingly enjoying the melody. Lena kept playing, feeling grateful. When Kara walked back inside the house, she almost cried at the sight. Lena, playing the piano, Maisie calmly listening to her mother. Soon after, Maisie fell asleep.

From that moment, it had become a ritual. Maisie seemed to enjoy the piano and Lena would often play it for her. When she started teaching her how to play the piano, Kara was left speechless. Maisie was a fast learner, but Lena still insisted on getting her a proper teacher. Maisie studied hard, because she desperately wanted to be good enough to play Chopin. Kara would often listen to Maisie play with her tutor, but she realised soon enough that Maisie’s eyes had a different light whenever she played with Lena.

Playing the piano, especially Chopin’s pieces, was their thing. A passion they shared.

 

 

 


	4. No. 2 in F-Sharp Major

_Lunch, the day of the accident…_

 

“You wanted to see me?”

Lena rolled her eyes. “You sound like one of my employees. And, yet, you came in flying.”

“I know you love it when I do that.”

Lena shrugged. “If it means that I get to see you then, yes, I love it.”

“I knew it.” Kara said, placing a kiss on her wife’s lips. “But, I figured you wanted to talk about something without Maisie accidentally hearing us.”

The brunette nodded. “Yes, you’re right about that.”

“Should I be worried?”

Lena was quick to shake her head. “No, I just wanted to ask you if you’ve noticed anything weird about Maisie’s powers.”

“Weird? Like what?”

The CEO shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t have powers.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “I meant how weird?”

“Anything out of the ordinary.” Lena explained. “Her powers are supposed to match yours.”

Her wife shrugged. “I mean, she can’t fly.”

“Yeah, I’m very well aware. Can you please be serious?”

“I’m sorry.” Kara whispered. “I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. She still has the same powers she had as a child and they haven’t evolved.”

Lena nodded, looking at her notebook. “I think they have.”

“What? How? How did you notice and I didn’t?”

Lena smiled. “Well, first of all, I’m a genius.”

“Right. What did you notice?”

“I think she might be developing vision based powers soon.” Lena explained. “I can see her eyes doing weird things from time to time.”

Kara nodded. “I didn’t think she’d be able to develop further powers.”

“Me neither.” Lena admitted. “That’s why I stopped monitoring her progress when she was five. We have to go back to testing her at least once a week.”

“She’s going to hate that.”

Lena nodded. “I’d rather be hated than having my own daughter incinerate me with her eyes.”

 


	5. No. 16 in E-Flat Major

Kara stopped herself from running into Maisie’s bedroom. She could hear the soft cries that her daughter was desperately trying to hide from her superhearing. Kara wished she was human.   
She’d promised herself she’d let her daughter grieve the way she preferred. She’d convinced herself that Maisie was going to be fine. She’d spent hours on the phone with her sister, trying to understand why letting her cry was important.  
But when Maisie whispered her name, Kara took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Baby, are you alright?”

Maisie was facing the door, shaking profusely. She shook her head.  
Kara took an hesitant step forward. Then a second one. “Do you want me to stay where I am?”  
Maisie shook her head, patting the bed right next to where she was sitting. Kara was quickly by her side. She sat down, wrapping her daughter in her arms. The nine-year-old felt like the tinies child Kara had ever held, almost as fragile as she was when she was a newborn. Maisie was silently sobbing, clinging to Kara as if she was her lifeline.

“Mama, was it my fault?” She whispered after a while.

Kara’s heart broke. “No, Maisie, no. You had nothing to do with what happened.”

“You’ve never really told me what happened.” Maisie commented. “I know that she was working on something for me and then she just went into a coma. That’s all I know.”

Kara closed her eyes. “Would knowing make you feel any better?”

“Yes.” Maisie nodded. “You’re always telling me how much I’m like her. You should know that we like having as much information as possible.”

“I don’t know what she was working on.”

Maisie raised an eyebrow at her. “How can you not know?”

“Your mother enjoys working on a number of different projects and I don’t know which project caused the accident.” Kara admitted. “I don’t even know if it was one of her projects.”

“Didn’t you check the lab to understand what had happened?”

Kara nodded. “We did.”

“And?”

“And we couldn’t figure it out, because what happened was that there was a huge explosion in the lab and it destroyed a large section of the lab itself.” Kara explained. “We have no way of knowing until your mother wakes up and tells us herself.”

Maisie was silent for a moment. “Let’s go visit her.”

 


	6. No. 2 in E-Flat Major

**_Right before the accident..._ **

 

“I am very busy today.” Lena whispered. “Very busy.”

She closed her eyes for a second, then took a deep breath. She grabbed her notes and walked to the microscope. She was working on what she referred to as Project Kryptman, which was what had helped her make Maisie’s DNA before she was born. It was her favourite project to work on, something she’d been studying and perfecting since well before her daughter was born. Before Maisie was conceived, she tried for years to combine her DNA with Kara’s, but the Kryptonian’s DNA always seemed to overpower hers, destroying it completely. After years of trying, she had managed to do it by adding a tiny amount of a slightly modified kryptonite, which made Kara’s DNA less powerful and, consequently, made Maisie’s hybrid DNA a possibility.

For the first couple of years of the child’s life, Lena examined her frequently. She’d check her blood and made sure that she was growing properly in both her human side and her Kryptonian side. When Maisie turned five, Lena stopped checking her every week, and went on checking her every couple of months. After her seventh birthday, it became a twice in a year kind of thing. Maisie was growing like a “normal” child and had inherited characteristics from both her mothers. She had Lena’s dark hair and Kara’s baby blue eyes. Even though she had Kara’s strength, she seemed to have inherited Lena’s stature, which made her slightly shorter than her peers.

Lena decided that she was done with her work on Project Kriptman for the day and walked to the laser cutter. As she looked through her notes, she heard the sound of glass shattering. She wasn’t concerned about her safety, because the lab’s safety system was always working perfectly. Before she could go check what was happening, she heard a much louder crashing sound and everything went black.


	7. No. 14 in F-Sharp Minor

“She’s too smart, Lena.” Kara whispered. “Sometimes I wish you’d found a way to give her my brain instead of yours. She’s a brilliant little girl and she reminds me so much of you. She’s with Alex at the moment, don’t worry.”

She was sitting next to her wife’s bed, holding her hand. It was her second week there, but Kara was still hopeful. She’d spend most of her days at the hospital, never leaving Lena’s side. She was constantly hoping that the city wouldn’t need Supergirl, because leaving that room felt like betraying her wife.

She usually spent the day there, talking to Lena about all the things that Maisie couldn’t overhear because she was in school, and then she’d go pick Maisie up from school and they would go back to the hospital together. At night, she’d lay awake in her bed, missing the warmth of Lena’s body next to hers.

“She doesn’t play the piano anymore.” Kara whispered after a while. “She was playing it constantly during the first week, but then she stopped. I guess it’s not the same without you.”

Kara took a deep breath, never taking her eyes off Lena.

“I know that she listens for your heartbeat when we walk in.” Kara continued. “She doesn’t trust these machines. She always makes sure that you’re still here. With us.”

She wiped away the tears rolling down her face, then she realised she’d gotten a message from her sister.

 **Alex** : We’re on our way back.

“You know, I told you that I was ready to wait.” Kara whispered. “I don’t think I can wait any longer. I need you back. I need you to wake up and look at me.”

She stared at her wife, still hoping to get a reply. Lena didn’t move, she didn’t speak, she didn’t open her eyes. Once again, Kara sighed. When Alex and Maisie walked in, she put on her best fake smile and hugged her daughter. She could tell that Alex knew that she was feeling down, but said nothing. They were all trying to protect Maisie. To make her feel like it was going to be okay.

Kara was still holding Lena’s hand as their daughter was telling her about the tacos she and Alex shared at her favourite Mexican restaurant. Kara was smiling and nodding, but felt like she was going to explode and start crying at any given moment.

“Auntie Alex likes spicy food way too much.” Maisie commented.

Alex rolled her eyes. “You have super DNA in you, you should be able to handle it.”

“Mama doesn’t.”

“Your mother can’t handle vegetables.” Alex commented. “She doesn’t count.”

Maisie nodded. “That’s true.”

“You guys know that I’m here, right?”

Alex and Maisie both nodded. “Yes.”

Kara rolled her eyes, turning to Lena, waiting for her wife to back her up. For a moment, just a moment, she thought she’d felt Lena squeeze her hand. She knew that comatose patients did that sometimes and that it meant nothing, but it had never happened before.

“I must be going crazy.”  
  
She shook her head, turning to her daughter. She opened her mouth to speak, but noticed that Maisie’s eyes had widened and her mouth was hanging open. She immediately turned around and saw something she’d been wishing for for weeks.

Lena’s eyes were open and she was looking at her.


	8. No. 1 in C-Minor

_Right after the accident.._

 

She loved flying. Sometimes she felt bad for Maisie because she couldn’t enjoy the freedom of being surrounded by clouds, especially since it was her favourite way of unwinding.

As she was flying around National City, she got a notification alert from L-Corp’s alarm system. It was detecting fire in one of Lena’s labs and Kara decided to go check it out. She was almost sure that she wasn’t needed at L-Corp, because every lab had a very complicated safety system, that kicked it anytime a minor accident happened. She wasn’t worried, because Lena had told her that morning that she had way too many meetings to even think about going to the lab, but she decided to call her anyways.

When her wife didn’t pick up her phone, she started feeling uneasy. She figured she might be in a meeting, or already checking out the lab to see what was happening, but something in her gut told her to fly faster and faster, until she got to L-Corp.

The lab was not what she expected. She expected a minor fire, something she could fix with freeze breath and not much effort. The whole lab was on fire, and Kara wondered how the safety system hadn’t kicked in. Lena was a fan of safety, and Kara feared that what had happened wasn’t an accident.

Her fear grew even stronger when she saw her.

Lena, laying motionless on the ground, surrounded by flames.


	9. No. 3 in G-Minor

“It wasn’t an accident.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “What do you mean it wasn’t an accident?”

“Have you met the woman?” Her sister whispered.

“Accidents don’t happen to me.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Accidents can happen to anyone.”

“Not to me.” Lena replied. “I know it wasn’t an accident.”

Kara thought about it for a second. The main reason why she hadn’t been worried the day of Lena’s not-an-accident was because her wife was a fan of safety measures. And she was very precise. “What do you think happened, then?”

“Do you remember that there was a security breach when Maisie was less than one year old?”

Kara nodded.

“I was sure it was my brother.” Lena commented. “I reckon he wanted to get his hands on project Kryptman.”

Kara shook her head. “Your brother was in prison when that security breach happened. He is in prison now.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Have you met the man?”

“Precisely.” Lena whispered. “Have you?”

Kara was staring at the both of them, her mouth hanging open. “I wonder why Lex would want to know how to create a human-kryptonian hybrid.”

“I don’t know if I care.” Lena commented.

But, deep down, Lena knew that she cared. She didn’t know if it was because she was afraid her brother would create an hybrid, or if it was because she was almost certain he was trying to find a way to stop her from creating a second one. Or because he desperately wanted to know how to hurt Maisie.

For the first few weeks since coming back from the hospital, Lena was extremely weak. She spent most of her days on the sofa or in the garden, reading. She checked her watch multiple times a day, always hoping for it to be time for Maisie to get back from school and play the piano for her.

Kara always made sure to be home when Maisie was back, because watching her daughter playing the piano again was like a dream come true. Especially because Lena was by her side, her eyes closed, enjoying the music.

“I can tell that you haven’t been practicing as much.” Lena commented one day.

Maisie looked at her. “I’m sorry.”  
“Nothing to be sorry about, darling.” Lena replied. “You’re still extraordinary.”

Maisie smiled then. “I can’t wait until you’re strong enough to play again.”

“You can practise your part of the four-hand piece for now.” Lena whispered. “I know mine by heart.”

She slowly got up, watching closely as her daughter started playing. She walked towards her wife, who welcomed her in her arms. “She’s just as determined as you are.”

“I was afraid you’d say stubborn.” Lena replied, smirking.

Kara shrugged, holding her closer. “That, too.”

“I’ll be going back to L-Corp in the morning.”

Kara closed her eyes. “Already?”

“I’m fine.” Lena commented. “I can go back to work.”

The super spun her around, to face her. “This is you being stubborn.”

“I am bored out of my mind, I wanted to go back last week.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “We agreed on three weeks. It’s been two.”

“I can’t wait another week.” Lena stated. “I will lose my mind.”

The music stopped, but neither Kara nor Lena had noticed. “You’re always praising her for being headstrong. She’s not going to change her mind.”

Kara pinched the bridge of her nose, then took a deep breath. “I can’t win.”

“You really can’t.” Lena smiled. “And, please, don’t come check on me every fifteen minutes.”

The blonde looked at her for a moment. “Twenty?”

“You can come every hour.” Lena sighed. “But if I see you flying in a minute earlier than expected, I will have those windows you like so much installed.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “Not those windows.”

“Every hour.” Lena repeated. “Sixty minutes.”

The next morning, Lena got to L-Corp at seven sharp. She was so excited to be back, that she had forced herself to remain silent while Kara lectured her about being stubborn and working way too much. While she had breakfast, she had laughed at a sleepy Kara setting various alarms on her phone, while secretly feeling grateful.

She smiled as she sat at her desk, cup of coffee in hand, finally able to do what she loved. Kara did indeed come check up on her every single hour, sometimes bringing food, other times bringing water.

That night, Lena went home to find both Kara and Maisie waiting for her. The house smelled like freshly cooked food, and she could hear Maisie playing the piano. It sounded different than usual, but she didn’t mind.

“Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor.” She whispered. “My favourite.”

She walked to the music room, only to find that a second piano had been added next to the old one. “What is that?”

Maisie stopped playing before turning around. “It looks like a piano.”

“And I thought you were a genius.” Kara pointed out, smiling.

Lena rolled her eyes. “You guys are something else.”

“I figured we might need a second piano.” Kara explained. “One that could be Maisie’s. It’s a baby grand, wouldn’t want to match your gigantic one.”

Lena took a step forward, examining the new piano. She noticed immediately that Kara had had it personalised , Maisie’s name was engraved in gold letters, just like Lena’s was on her piano.

“It’s perfect, don’t you think?” Maisie asked, smiling brightly.

Lena nodded, smiling back. “It’s brilliant. Now we can play together.”

Kara watched her as she sat in front of her black grand piano and nodded at Maisie before starting to play. Her fingers moved swiftly on the keys and Kara had to wipe away a few tears when Maisie started playing as well, following her mother’s lead.

Chopin had never sounded as good to Kara’s ears.

 

 

 


End file.
